203 Members of Congress Call Trump Administration’s Efforts to Dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Dangerous and Illegal
In a Friend of the Court Brief, Lawmakers State That Only Congress Has the Power To Shutter the CFPB, and That the Agency Is Critical for Preventing Future Economic Crises
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 28, 2025
Contact: Nicole Funaro, Public Justice nfunaro@publicjustice.net (203) 435-1722
Washington, DC – Calling the Trump Administration’s attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) “a brazen violation of both Dodd-Frank and the Constitution’s fundamental principle of separation of powers,” a group of 203 Members of Congress has filed a brief urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to block the Administration’s stop-work order at the agency, asserting that it “will have severe consequences for the American people.” The brief, filed in support of a suit brought by the National Treasury Employees Union and several other groups, argues that the Administration is attempting to “unilaterally eliminate a federal agency created by Congress.” The Members joining the brief are represented by Public Justice, a non-profit legal advocacy organization that has strongly defended the CFPB’s work and represented consumers in predatory lending and other consumer cases, and Douglas R. Jensen of Sher Tremonte LLP.
“The Trump Administration’s effort to decimate the agency is unconstitutional and irresponsible,” said Hannah Kieschnick, an attorney with Public Justice’s Access to Justice Project. “The President does not have the power to stop an independent agency like the CFPB from doing its job. That job is essential: protecting consumers and the economy by ensuring that banks do not repeat the predatory and risky behaviors that caused the 2008 financial crisis.”
Joined by several consumer and civil rights groups and one individual, the National Treasury Employees Union brought the suit in response to President Trump’s pledge to “totally eliminate” the CFPB and Acting Director Russell Vought’s subsequent actions to dismantle the agency. These actions have included laying off agency personnel, issuing orders to halt work, and shutting down nearly 40 enforcement actions. By preventing the agency from performing its congressionally mandated duties, the Defendants are attempting to do what “only Congress can do: amend Dodd-Frank.” The Representatives urge the court to grant NTEU’s motion to reverse the Administration’s actions and allow the CFPB to resume operations, stating, “The CFPB must continue to exist, in practice and in name, until Congress decides otherwise.”
The brief also highlights the CFPB’s record as an effective watchdog that has returned $21 billion directly to consumers. It emphasizes that dismantling the agency could create “an even riskier regulatory landscape than the one that led to the 2008 financial crisis” because “no other federal agency has the lawful authority” to fully assume the CFPB’s role. In fact, Congress specifically identified the previously dispersed regulatory landscape as a leading cause of the crash, calling it “too fragmented to be effective.”
“No other entity can fill the CFPB’s shoes,” the Representatives say, and this Administration’s unconstitutional power grab must be stopped.
A copy of today’s brief is available here.
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